As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is an information handling system (IHS). An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for such systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Integrated circuit (IC) cards and information handling systems (IHSs) have increasing applicability in daily business functions. Therefore, attention is drawn towards methods to integrate the IC card with the IHS to achieve all-in-one functionality. As a result, current IHSs are manufactured to provide limited IC card readability. In general, IC cards can be categorized into various types including contact IC cards or contactless IC cards. Contact IC cards typically contact a contact field of an electronic device, the contact field comprising several contact pins which allow for information and electric power transfer. In contrast, contactless IC cards may contain a mechanism to allow communication without contact, such as with a reader through identification methods such as radio-frequency identification (RFID).
Currently, in the case of a portable IHS, an IC card slot located on one side of the portable IHS may only accommodate a contact IC card but does not allow for readability of a contactless IC card. In order to take advantage of the convenience of contactless IC cards, an antenna may be mounted to the portable IHSs for communicating with the contactless IC card. Should a user close the lid of the portable IHS (e.g., a laptop), the antenna may be blocked from communicating with the contactless IC card. Further, if the laptop should function as a tablet causing the screen to cover the area where the antenna is mounted, the contactless IC card may not be properly sensed. Additionally, material (e.g., metal) from which the IHS chassis is constructed may interfere or block antenna signals, thus preventing the sensing of the contactless IC card.
Current systems may comprise adapters to allow a contact IC card to be sensed by a contactless IC card reader while allowing a contactless IC card to be sensed by a contact IC card reader. However, the addition of an adaptor to the IHS may require additional parts and not be cost effective. Further, in some circumstances, even with an adaptor, the communication pathway between the portable IHS and the contactless IC card may be interfered with or blocked. Thus, there exists a need for improved apparatus, systems and methods which enhance the readability of contact and/or contactless IC cards by IHSs.